Of Accubonds, Remingtons, and elk - 11/03/10
Did the yearly elk trip last week to Colorado. It was one of weeks in the field you always hear about � a lot of snow up high, elk moving to lower country, us smack dab in the middle. It wasn�t a picnic because we had knee deep snow, high�s in the 20�s, and wind. All told, conditions sucked to be out chasing elk in.
I started the yearly adventure with a trip to the Steamboat medical clinic on Thursday PM before our pack in. I picked up a significant sore throat some time Wednesday and became concerned on Thursday as it became worse. At least one person at work had strep throat the previous week. I wasn�t going miles into the mountains with strep. One negative throat culture later and we were on our way.
The night before the season was full of nasal drainage, coughing, and much sleeplessness. The AM started early with us on stand by 6:30 and me not feeling real hot. About 9, a group of 4 cows came through about 125 yards out. 5 minutes later I saw horns coming through the boulder field. I watched the bull walk broadside at 150 yards for 5-10 seconds and could not put 4 points on a side. I saw 3 points plain as day but couldn�t decide if the 4th was from the far side or near. I let him pass. Those that know me have heard this exact story 4-5 times in the past 4-5 seasons � bulls walking by, can�t tell if they are legal, no shots fired. To say I�m a little tired of the story would be a serious understatement. But I refuse to shoot, then go count points. On Whitetails, I can tell within seconds if they have 4 points on one side, for some reason I haven�t developed the knack with elk. Hopefully, I�ll develop that skill before I die������
Days 2 and 3 were filled with mule deer, snow, and wind but no elk. I was feeling a bit like a hunting bystander rather than a hunter by the end of Day 2. The guys in the adjacent camp had shot 2 bulls and 2 cows by the end of Day 2. Of course they�ve hunted there for 34 years, me 2 days. I decided it was time to explore the area rather than rely on anecdotal evidence that so and so killed an elk over there once. I had done a bit of map scouting before arriving in the woods and decided it was time to investigate a couple of areas. On Monday I still hunted up a mountainside, through a saddle, back onto a hump, back around the mountain, then back to camp. Didn�t see a whole lot to get excited about.
On Tuesday, I decided to roam a bit along a mountain peak and adjacent ridge line and most notably a flat point that dropped off into no-wheresville and adjacent ranchland below. As expected, I found elk sign, lots of elk sign. In early PM, I ran into a set of bull tracks, judging from the size and character of the tracks. It had been snowing for 4 days straight so any visible tracks were only hours old at most. I slowly still hunted the track for several hours and the animal started to meander and browse a bit. It acted like it wanted to lay down for the PM. As I slowly followed, I came across a smoking set of tracks going the opposite direction complete with fresh turds. The turds were still warm. I had missed the elk by minutes. I followed the set of tracks I started on and discovered that it was the same elk, a bull none the less. It had walked to the edge of the quakies and laid down for a while, then stood and walked back its tracks where I found them. I went back to the quakies and uphill several hundred yards and cow called in hopes of getting the bull to answer. After 30 minutes, I decided it was time to still hunt back toward camp.
I punched camp into the GIS and headed for a knob I had stood on the first PM. The �knob� is actually a roll in the landscape that gives a good vantage point of a strip of black timber that runs the length of the valley and connects higher elevations with lower � most of the elk moving through the area traveled this timber strip on their way to lower elevations. As I approached the whoop-tee-whoop in the terrain, I broke over the first roll and saw a bull standing 75 yards away, totally unaware of my presence. I immediately saw 4 points without looking for brow tines. Within 2 seconds I had the crosshairs centered on the shoulder and squeezed the trigger sending a 180 Accubond squarely into the shoulder. The bull barely reacted, a simple slight flinch, then took off down over the hill. I sent another Accubond into the Colorado terrain as the bull dropped out of the sight picture. I ran over the whoop-to-whoop and did not see the bull laying anywhere. I moved farther down the hill and saw him laying down below. He was trying his best to rock himself back to his feet; rather unsuccessfully. I sent another Accubond into his neck ending all movement. Total distance traveled: 50 yards.
I skinned the bull on the spot, finishing with my Petzl headlamp. Ever try rolling a 600 lb animal over? By yourself? On a sidehill? I finally got the backstraps off and quarters hung. Bullet performance was excellent � complete penetration on shot one. Did recover bullet 2 from the neck/shoulder joint. It weighed 106 grains, 59% weight retention with about 1.25 caliber expansion and penetrated ~ 10-12 inches of mostly bone. Shot one left a lemon size hole through the carcass with much carnage in between. I was truly surprised when I saw the internal damage and recalling the shot reaction. I would have expected a more visible reaction given shot placement and damage. Obviously a bullet failure
I am tickled with the bull even though he�s not the biggest in the woods or taken on the trip. He is my first and I hunted hard for him. I�ve come home empty from 4 previous DIY and drop camps. In the process, I�ve learned a thing or two about elk, where they like to hang and how they move. Even though this was the first time I had hunted the area, it didn�t take long to connect the hours of pre-hunt map reading with on-the-ground terrain analysis. I feel it is a serious mistake to not do �map scouting� before elk trips � especially in new country. I�ve hunted elk in hot/dry weather up to snow/cold/windy � and have managed to find elk in every situation by knowing basic hunting techniques and putting down a lot of boot leather. I�d trade every other species just for the chance to hunt elk. Its only 11.5 months till next elk season.
The bull, a 4x5:
![[Linked Image]](http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp24/Whitetail6319/100_0718.jpg)
View from camp:
![[Linked Image]](http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp24/Whitetail6319/100_0750.jpg)
Meat cutting with my buddy and his son:
![[Linked Image]](http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp24/Whitetail6319/100_0756.jpg)
A few things to pass along about equipment. I wore Rivers West coat/pants the entire trip. This is my 3-4 elk trip with them and countless other whitetail/bear hunts thrown in. It is not the quietest stuff on the planet but it is warm and waterproof. I like it.
I used my M700 in 300 SAUM (62 gr H4350, WLR, 2925 ft/sec) on this hunt. The rifle was soaked, frozen, wet, dry - just about every nuance in between. I never had an issue - nor have I for the past 3-4 years of hard use on my SAUM's. I'm a little rough on equipment and have the beauty marks to prove it. Why is this important? We had a Sako and a Browning SS Stalker that would not fire because they were frozen. The guy I went with could not get his Sako to fire as a bull walked through the timber. Remingtons are very good dependable rifles.
I was more than a bit skeptical about using Accubonds based on all the stories and pics I saw on the 'Fire about them. A big thanks to JB for steering me correctly on this one - Thank You! From a sample of 2, they appear to act like Partitions, even when encountering heavy bone. I'll be using them on blackbears later in the month - if I'm lucky enough to run into a PA blackbear. I expect if they work on elks, they'll work on b-bears.
I used Danner Elk Hunters again this year as I have for the past 4-5. They are not the lightest but they are durable and kept my feet dry for the entire trip - even though they were not dry at any point in the trip. They take a while to get broken in but I'm sold on them for a general purpose elk boot. I greatly prefer my Merrell's when its warmer/drier.
Come on next year!
I started the yearly adventure with a trip to the Steamboat medical clinic on Thursday PM before our pack in. I picked up a significant sore throat some time Wednesday and became concerned on Thursday as it became worse. At least one person at work had strep throat the previous week. I wasn�t going miles into the mountains with strep. One negative throat culture later and we were on our way.
The night before the season was full of nasal drainage, coughing, and much sleeplessness. The AM started early with us on stand by 6:30 and me not feeling real hot. About 9, a group of 4 cows came through about 125 yards out. 5 minutes later I saw horns coming through the boulder field. I watched the bull walk broadside at 150 yards for 5-10 seconds and could not put 4 points on a side. I saw 3 points plain as day but couldn�t decide if the 4th was from the far side or near. I let him pass. Those that know me have heard this exact story 4-5 times in the past 4-5 seasons � bulls walking by, can�t tell if they are legal, no shots fired. To say I�m a little tired of the story would be a serious understatement. But I refuse to shoot, then go count points. On Whitetails, I can tell within seconds if they have 4 points on one side, for some reason I haven�t developed the knack with elk. Hopefully, I�ll develop that skill before I die������
Days 2 and 3 were filled with mule deer, snow, and wind but no elk. I was feeling a bit like a hunting bystander rather than a hunter by the end of Day 2. The guys in the adjacent camp had shot 2 bulls and 2 cows by the end of Day 2. Of course they�ve hunted there for 34 years, me 2 days. I decided it was time to explore the area rather than rely on anecdotal evidence that so and so killed an elk over there once. I had done a bit of map scouting before arriving in the woods and decided it was time to investigate a couple of areas. On Monday I still hunted up a mountainside, through a saddle, back onto a hump, back around the mountain, then back to camp. Didn�t see a whole lot to get excited about.
On Tuesday, I decided to roam a bit along a mountain peak and adjacent ridge line and most notably a flat point that dropped off into no-wheresville and adjacent ranchland below. As expected, I found elk sign, lots of elk sign. In early PM, I ran into a set of bull tracks, judging from the size and character of the tracks. It had been snowing for 4 days straight so any visible tracks were only hours old at most. I slowly still hunted the track for several hours and the animal started to meander and browse a bit. It acted like it wanted to lay down for the PM. As I slowly followed, I came across a smoking set of tracks going the opposite direction complete with fresh turds. The turds were still warm. I had missed the elk by minutes. I followed the set of tracks I started on and discovered that it was the same elk, a bull none the less. It had walked to the edge of the quakies and laid down for a while, then stood and walked back its tracks where I found them. I went back to the quakies and uphill several hundred yards and cow called in hopes of getting the bull to answer. After 30 minutes, I decided it was time to still hunt back toward camp.
I punched camp into the GIS and headed for a knob I had stood on the first PM. The �knob� is actually a roll in the landscape that gives a good vantage point of a strip of black timber that runs the length of the valley and connects higher elevations with lower � most of the elk moving through the area traveled this timber strip on their way to lower elevations. As I approached the whoop-tee-whoop in the terrain, I broke over the first roll and saw a bull standing 75 yards away, totally unaware of my presence. I immediately saw 4 points without looking for brow tines. Within 2 seconds I had the crosshairs centered on the shoulder and squeezed the trigger sending a 180 Accubond squarely into the shoulder. The bull barely reacted, a simple slight flinch, then took off down over the hill. I sent another Accubond into the Colorado terrain as the bull dropped out of the sight picture. I ran over the whoop-to-whoop and did not see the bull laying anywhere. I moved farther down the hill and saw him laying down below. He was trying his best to rock himself back to his feet; rather unsuccessfully. I sent another Accubond into his neck ending all movement. Total distance traveled: 50 yards.
I skinned the bull on the spot, finishing with my Petzl headlamp. Ever try rolling a 600 lb animal over? By yourself? On a sidehill? I finally got the backstraps off and quarters hung. Bullet performance was excellent � complete penetration on shot one. Did recover bullet 2 from the neck/shoulder joint. It weighed 106 grains, 59% weight retention with about 1.25 caliber expansion and penetrated ~ 10-12 inches of mostly bone. Shot one left a lemon size hole through the carcass with much carnage in between. I was truly surprised when I saw the internal damage and recalling the shot reaction. I would have expected a more visible reaction given shot placement and damage. Obviously a bullet failure
I am tickled with the bull even though he�s not the biggest in the woods or taken on the trip. He is my first and I hunted hard for him. I�ve come home empty from 4 previous DIY and drop camps. In the process, I�ve learned a thing or two about elk, where they like to hang and how they move. Even though this was the first time I had hunted the area, it didn�t take long to connect the hours of pre-hunt map reading with on-the-ground terrain analysis. I feel it is a serious mistake to not do �map scouting� before elk trips � especially in new country. I�ve hunted elk in hot/dry weather up to snow/cold/windy � and have managed to find elk in every situation by knowing basic hunting techniques and putting down a lot of boot leather. I�d trade every other species just for the chance to hunt elk. Its only 11.5 months till next elk season.
The bull, a 4x5:
View from camp:
Meat cutting with my buddy and his son:
A few things to pass along about equipment. I wore Rivers West coat/pants the entire trip. This is my 3-4 elk trip with them and countless other whitetail/bear hunts thrown in. It is not the quietest stuff on the planet but it is warm and waterproof. I like it.
I used my M700 in 300 SAUM (62 gr H4350, WLR, 2925 ft/sec) on this hunt. The rifle was soaked, frozen, wet, dry - just about every nuance in between. I never had an issue - nor have I for the past 3-4 years of hard use on my SAUM's. I'm a little rough on equipment and have the beauty marks to prove it. Why is this important? We had a Sako and a Browning SS Stalker that would not fire because they were frozen. The guy I went with could not get his Sako to fire as a bull walked through the timber. Remingtons are very good dependable rifles.
I was more than a bit skeptical about using Accubonds based on all the stories and pics I saw on the 'Fire about them. A big thanks to JB for steering me correctly on this one - Thank You! From a sample of 2, they appear to act like Partitions, even when encountering heavy bone. I'll be using them on blackbears later in the month - if I'm lucky enough to run into a PA blackbear. I expect if they work on elks, they'll work on b-bears.
I used Danner Elk Hunters again this year as I have for the past 4-5. They are not the lightest but they are durable and kept my feet dry for the entire trip - even though they were not dry at any point in the trip. They take a while to get broken in but I'm sold on them for a general purpose elk boot. I greatly prefer my Merrell's when its warmer/drier.
Come on next year!